Minnesota’s U.S. senators are pushing for better rural phone service on landlines – in particular putting a stop to dropped calls and poor service quality.
They said the issue costs small businesses money, disrupts people’s lives and is dangerous and unfair.
U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, both D-Minn., have called on the Federal Communications Commission and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to strengthen rural phone service by demanding originating telephone providers to make improvements to how calls are routed, according to news releases sent to The Journal.
Klobuchar and Franken joined 34 Democrat and Republican senators, saying certain unnamed phone providers “refuse to connect calls to customers served by small rural carriers.”
Franken urged the FCC to investigate providers with significantly higher failure rates due to possibly using the practice of “least-cost routing services” in order to save money.
Information was not immediately available about how the problem directly impacts Borderland residents.
“During this difficult economic period, small businesses cannot afford to lose business opportunities because of dropped calls and poor service quality,” according to Klobuchar’s office.
Dropped calls can not only harm business but also could be potentially dangerous if someone needs medical attention, the senator’s office stated. A recent national study showed that urban phone call quality is better. The practice also violates FCC rules.
